Pancakes: Discovery
by Searching for Serenity
Summary: Part 3 in the Pancakes series. You'll need to read Pancakes, and Pancakes: The Aftermath first, in order to understand this story. Sarah and Derek discover John and Cameron's secret. Jameron.


Summary: Part 3 in the Pancakes series. You'll need to read Pancakes, and Pancakes: The Aftermath first, in order to understand this story. Sarah and Derek discover John and Cameron's secret. Jameron.

Note to Jameron4eva: This is for you. In your review of Pancakes: The Aftermath, you suggested an idea for another sequel. I was inspired by your idea, so I ran with it, and the story evolved from there. I want to thank you. Without your suggestion, this story wouldn't have gotten written. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. If I did, I wouldn't need to write fanfiction about it! Oh, yeah, and it would still be on TV!

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**Pancakes**: **Discovery**

It had been six months. Cameron and John had managed to keep their relationship a secret for six months. John should have known their luck would run out, eventually. Really, it was amazing they had been able to keep it a secret that long, considering how vigilant and, quite frankly, paranoid both his mom and uncle were. In the end, it was John's fault that they were discovered.

Every night, when they made love in John's room, they were always as silent as possible in order to avoid waking Sarah and Derek. Cameron, of course, had no trouble keeping quiet. In fact, she hardly ever made any noise at all. John, on the other hand, had to constantly remember to be quiet, and often it was a struggle to do so.

On the night of their discovery, John forgot himself, and cried out as he climaxed. He was still lying on top of Cameron, panting from his exertion, when Cameron suddenly whispered, "John, Sarah's awake. She's heading this way. Fast."

John's eyes snapped open, but before he could move, his bedroom door flew open. Sarah was standing in his doorway, her handgun raised in anticipation of trouble.

John and Cameron both lay frozen on the bed, staring at Sarah. John looked completely horrified. Cameron's face had become impassive, her usual expression around anyone but John.

Sarah immediately took in the sight of her son, naked, lying prone upon an equally naked Cameron, and then she shrieked a high pitched shriek that was so unlike her, it would have been funny in another situation.

Instantly, Derek's footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs. He arrived in John's doorway only a few seconds later, his handgun also held at the ready. When he saw John and Cameron, his eyes widened in horror, and he cried out in a strangled yell, "Jesus Christ!"

Finally, John found his voice. He yelled at them in a panic, "Get out! Close the door!"

Sarah and Derek both hastily backed out of the room, and Sarah quickly pulled the door shut.

Instantly, John jumped up. He grabbed his boxers off the floor, and then grabbed the jeans and T-shirt he'd worn yesterday off the back of his desk chair. He quickly began pulling on the clothes.

Cameron had also gotten out of bed, and was donning her clothes that had been discarded on the floor. She moved quickly and efficiently, but without the panic John was displaying.

When John was dressed, he grabbed his handgun off of his nightstand, and put it in his waistband, against his back. Then he turned toward Cameron, his eyes locking onto hers.

Cameron whispered to him. "They're still outside the door. They seem to have recovered from their shock. They're now talking about the best method for destroying me."

John's eyes flashed with anger, and then his jaw set in determination. "That's not going to happen." He declared, with the authority of leader. Then he looked at Cameron, and his expression softened. "Come here," he said, drawing her to him in a loving embrace. He gently kissed her forehead, and then looked her in the eyes. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Ever."

"I understand." Cameron replied solemnly.

John withdrew from Cameron. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and then, pulling his gun, he walked over to his bedroom door and opened it.

Sarah and Derek were standing in the hallway, just outside John's door. When the door opened, they both instantly raised their guns. They had obviously been expecting Cameron. Twin images of shock bloomed on their faces when they saw John before them, holding his own gun on the two of them.

Sarah instantly lowered her gun. "John, what are you doing?!" She sounded beside herself. Then she noticed Derek still had his gun raised. "For God's sake, Derek, put your gun down before you shoot him!"

Derek slowly lowered his gun, but his eyes never left John. He seemed to be analyzing John, trying to determine what he was going to do next.

"John," Sarah said in a pleading voice, "Please, lower your gun."

John didn't wavier. Instead, his features hardened in resolve. He spoke in a deadly calm voice. "No, Mom. We're going to have a little talk now. This gun is going to ensure that you both listen very closely to what I have to say, and not do anything foolish."

Sarah swallowed visibly, and nodded at John.

Derek seemed to appraise John for a moment. Then something changed in his expression. A dawning of recognition in his eyes, and a grudging respect. He, too, nodded.

John took this as a sign to begin speaking. "First of all, I want both of you to put your guns on the ground, and push them toward me."

Sarah and Derek both slowly bent down, their eyes never leaving John, and placed their weapons on the ground. First Sarah, then Derek, slid their guns across the wood floor to John's feet.

John didn't bend to retrieve the guns. He didn't even look down at them. He simply stated, "Good. Now we can begin. This is how it is. I love Cameron. Cameron loves me. We've been involved in a relationship for the past six months. Now that you know, we won't have to hide it anymore. We're going to continue our relationship, and there's nothing you can do to stop us. Oh, and if you even attempt to hurt Cameron, I'll kill you. That goes for both of you. Understand?"

Sarah laughed nervously. "Come on, John. You wouldn't kill me."

John responded by cocking his gun and aiming directly at Sarah's head. Sarah gasped in response.

John coolly replied, "Ordinarily, no, I wouldn't. But if you try to hurt the woman I love, I don't see how I could trust you enough to let you live."

Sarah's eyes grew huge, and slowly filled with tears.

"Now," John continued, "Do you both agree not to harm Cameron?"

John looked to Derek first.

Derek met John's gaze, and said, "I agree," in a submissive, and respectful voice. It almost seemed like he wanted to add "sir" to the end of the phrase.

Then John looked at his mom.

Sarah stared at John for a moment. Then the tears in her eyes began to spill down her cheeks, and when she opened her mouth to reply, a choked sob escaped her lips. Instead, Sarah nodded vigorously, unable to speak.

"Good," John said in a satisfied voice. He lowered his gun, and kicked Sarah and Derek's weapons back toward them. "Take your guns. Cameron and I are going back to bed."

With that he turned and walked back into his room, closing the door behind him. A click was heard as the lock was turned.

After that night, a lot changed in the Connor household. Derek seemed to have a new-found respect for John. It almost seemed, by the way he acted around him, that Derek now saw the General, instead of the boy.

Sarah also acted differently around John. She still hadn't recovered from the shock of John threatening her life. She no longer tried to tell John what to do. Instead, she seemed positively meek in his presence. She seemed to be trying to come to terms with the fact that John was now a man.

John and Cameron no longer had to hide their relationship, so they didn't. They cuddled on the couch as they watched TV. They held hands. They hugged and kissed each other, with no concern about where in the house they were, or what time of day it was, or even who was in the room with them.

This, of course, made both Sarah and Derek very uncomfortable, but neither of them ever said a word to John or Cameron about it.

At night, John and Cameron no longer worried about being quiet while they made love. In fact, John rather enjoyed being able to make as much noise as he wanted to. He was also pleased to find that Cameron was quite capable of being vocal in expressing her pleasure. The two of them caused both Sarah and Derek to suffer through many sleepless nights.

A month passed. Gradually, Sarah seemed to adjust to the idea of John and Cameron's relationship. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she was able to tolerate it well enough. Derek, on the other hand, was having a much harder time accepting the idea of John and Cameron being together. Derek had such a strong, lifelong hatred of Metal, that the thought of his nephew with one made him sick. In fact, there had been several times he had witnessed an intimate moment between John and Cameron, and had literally gotten sick.

One evening, John and Cameron were in the kitchen, sharing a rather passionate kiss, when Derek walked in. They heard Derek groan under his breath, "Oh, shit!" Then Derek could be heard running for the downstairs bathroom, followed by the sound of him retching violently.

John broke apart from Cameron, looking after Derek with a thoughtful frown on his face. "You know, Derek's been getting sick an awful lot lately. I think it's because of us. Maybe we should try to be a little more discreet, for his sake."

"No," Cameron replied, her expression serious. "I'm trying to determine how many times he'll get sick before his body adapts."

John chuckled, grinning at her. "Are you telling me that you've been _trying_ to make him throw up?"

Cameron blinked at John, and tilted her head to the side. "Not at first, only after I noticed a pattern in his behavior."

John chuckled, again, and took both her hands in his. "You know what I love about you?"

Cameron seemed to consider the question for a moment. Then she responded with all seriousness, "My body."

John's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger. "Well, yes, I do love that, but I also love that you're full of surprises. Just when I think I understand you completely, you find another way to surprise me."

Cameron looked confused. "Is that a good thing, John?"

"Yes, I think that's a very good thing." With that, John pulled Cameron to him and gave her a gentle, tender kiss. Cameron returned the kiss, and her arms crept up around John's neck. She opened her mouth against his, allowing John to deepen the kiss. In an instant, the passion flared between them, again. As they continued to kiss, John slowly pushed her backwards, until Cameron's back was up against the counter, with him pressed tightly against her.

At that moment, Derek walked back into the kitchen, in desperate need of a drink. When he saw the two of them kissing, he turned rather pale, but didn't run for the bathroom. Instead he exclaimed, "Dammit, you two! Do you _want_ me to throw up?!"

John jumped, pulling away from Cameron at his words.

Cameron regarded Derek seriously. "Yes," she replied in her usual monotone.

Derek stared at Cameron in open-mouthed astonishment, too shocked to respond.

John burst out laughing, causing Derek to turn his gaze on him with an irritated frown on his face.

Finally, John's laughter died away, but a smile remained on his face. "Sorry, Derek, but you _did_ ask."

John turned to Cameron, taking her hand in his. "Come on, Cam, I think it's time we went to bed. Goodnight, Derek."

Derek grunted in response, as John led Cameron from the room. When they were safely out of the room, Derek let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He shook his head, and crossed the kitchen to the refrigerator, retrieving a beer from it. He opened the bottle, and took a long swig. Just then, Sarah walked into the kitchen.

"Hey," Sarah said. "Did I hear you getting sick a few minutes ago?"

Derek raised his eyebrows. "You heard that?"

Sarah crossed her arms, her expression clearly saying 'duh', but then she asked, "You okay now?"

"Yeah," Derek muttered, taking another swig of his beer.

Suddenly, a loud thump was heard coming from the direction of John's bedroom. Sarah and Derek both looked toward the ceiling. They knew that noise well. It was the sound of John's headboard hitting the wall, and if tonight was like any other night, before long it would be playing a steady rhythm against it. Their suspicions were confirmed when they heard John cry, "Oh...God...Cam!"

"Sounds like I'm not going to be going to sleep anytime soon." Sarah remarked dryly.

"Me neither," Derek replied, his face twisted up in disgust. He let out a long sigh, then took a swig of beer, and slowly he seemed to regain control of his emotions. He eyed Sarah hesitantly. "I'm gonna go sit on the porch and drink my beer. Wanna join me?"

Sarah regarded Derek for a moment. Then she shrugged and said, "Okay." She went to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer of her own.

Derek headed for the back door, followed by Sarah. He held the door open for her, and she gave him a slight nod of thanks as she walked past him. He followed her out the door. Both of them sat down on the porch steps, about as far away from each other as the width of the steps would allow. They sipped their beers in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Then Derek suddenly asked, "How are you able to cope so well with them being together?" He jerked his head in the direction of John's bedroom window.

Sarah turned to regard him, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I suppose I've come to realize a few things that have made it easier to accept."

"Care to enlighten me?" Derek asked, staring at her as he took another swig of beer.

Sarah's gaze drifted out to the yard. She appeared to be deep in thought. She was quiet for so long, Derek thought she wasn't going to answer him. Just when he'd given up, she finally began to speak. "I know John hasn't been happy with his life for a while now. I've watched him becoming more and more depressed, and I felt like there was nothing I could do to make things better. Now, though...well, John's happy now. She makes him happy. When I think about what his future may be like, if we can't stop Skynet...well, he deserves some happiness in his life, even if it is with her." Sarah looked at Derek, waiting for his response.

Derek slowly nodded. "Okay, I have to admit, that does make sense. Anything else?"

Sarah smirked at Derek. "I know that there's no way he can get her pregnant."

Derek chuckled. "Yeah, you have a point there. At least there's no chance of that. The last thing he needs is to knock some girl up."

Sarah raised her eyebrows at his words, and took another sip of her beer.

"So, is that it?" Derek asked.

Sarah shook her head at him, and her eyes fell to the ground. "No, there's one more thing." She sighed, and then continued, "I know I'm not going to be around to protect John forever. When I'm gone, I know that she'll still be there to protect him in my place."

Derek sat pondering her words for a second. Then he cleared his throat. "You know, I'm not going to live forever, not like the metal, but for as long as I'm alive I'll be by his side, and I'll protect him, too."

Sarah looked up into Derek's eyes. "I know," she said quietly, "And I'm grateful."

Then Sarah quickly averted her gaze, and the two of them went back to drinking their beers in comfortable silence, a silence that was only broken by the occasional car driving by, or by the cries that could periodically be heard coming through John's closed bedroom window.

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Author's Notes: I want to thank the kind readers who took the time to review Pancakes: The Aftermath. I hadn't intended on writing another part to my Pancakes series, but since most of my reviewers requested a sequel, I felt compelled to give them one. Sorry it's taken me so long to get it posted! I tried to incorporate some of the humor from the first Pancakes story into this story, with the scene in the kitchen. I decided to write Sarah and Derek's scene at the end because I felt kind of bad for making Sarah cry and Derek puke. Since I love Sarah and Derek just as much as I love John and Cameron, I felt I should give them a peaceful moment of understanding, to show that, despite what happened in this story, their family was going to be alright. I would love to get your reviews! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please!


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